Pubdate: Tue, 11 Nov 2014
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2014 The New York Times Company
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Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Al Baker

CONCERNS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AS CITY EASES POLICY ON MARIJUANA ARRESTS

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who took office promising to reform the Police 
Department and repair relations with black and Latino communities, on 
Monday unveiled his plan to change the way the police enforce the law 
on marijuana possession.

Arrests for low-level marijuana possession have had an especially 
harsh impact on minority communities, and under the change announced 
on Monday, people found with small amounts of marijuana will 
typically be given a ticket and cited for a violation instead of 
being arrested and charged with a crime.

The news, outlined by the mayor and his police commissioner, William 
J. Bratton, at Police Headquarters, marked the most significant 
criminal justice policy initiative by Mr. de Blasio since he was 
sworn in as mayor in January.

While he stressed that he was not advocating the decriminalization of 
marijuana, Mr. de Blasio said the impact of enforcement on the people 
arrested and on the Police Department compelled him to rethink how 
the police handle low-level marijuana arrests.

The procedure for the issuance of a criminal court summons for a 
person found with 25 grams or less of marijuana in a public place and 
open to public view.

"When an individual is arrested," he said, "even for the smallest 
possession of marijuana, it hurts their chances to get a good job; it 
hurts their chances to get housing; it hurts their chances to qualify 
for a student loan. It can literally follow them for the rest of 
their lives and saddle young people with challenges that, for many, 
are very difficult to overcome."

For a Police Department that has devoted enormous resources to tens 
of thousands of marijuana arrests a year, the shift in strategy 
should, the mayor said, allow officers to focus on more serious types 
of crime by freeing up people who would otherwise be occupied by the 
administrative tasks lashed to minor marijuana arrests.

But the change, detailed in a five-page Police Department "operations 
order" that is set to go into effect on Nov. 19, immediately raised 
questions and concerns in many corners of the criminal justice system.

It directs officers who encounter people with 25 grams or less of 
marijuana, in public view, to issue a noncriminal violation in most 
instances, rather than arrest them for a misdemeanor.

The mayor said the new policy had the support of the city's district 
attorneys. But Brooklyn's top prosecutor, Kenneth P. Thompson, has 
voiced some concerns. Since September, his office has been dismissing 
many marijuana cases, and he said that by routinely issuing 
summonses, the police would be undercutting the role of prosecutors 
in assessing arrests and charges. That, Mr. Thompson said, left him 
"concerned about the due process rights of those who are given 
marijuana summonses."

As they headed into a meeting with departmental leaders to hear about 
the new policy, some police union leaders said the changes seemed to 
run counter to the "broken windows" strategy of policing, long 
championed by Mr. Bratton as a way to prevent serious crime by 
cracking down on low-level offenses.

"I just see it as another step in giving the streets back to the 
criminals," said Michael J. Palladino, the head of the city's 
Detectives' Endowment Association, the union representing police 
detectives. "And we keep inching closer and closer to that."

Edward Mullins, the head of the city's Sergeant's Benevolent 
Association, said police officers were always looking to make big 
arrests, to catch "bank robbers" or to seize guns. But sometimes, he 
said, marijuana arrests can "pop a guy wanted for robbery."

"People are asking: 'What is going on? Is this department losing its 
mind? Has the city lost its mind?' " he said.

At the news conference, Mr. Bratton said officers would still have to 
use discretion. If marijuana was being burned or smoked, an arrest 
would be made, he said. If offenders had an "active warrant," or were 
wanted, or could not produce proper identification, they would be 
taken to the station house, he said.

Officials said violations would not constitute a criminal record. 
They said court appearances, within weeks of the violation, could 
lead to a fine of up to $100 for a first offense.

City officials acknowledged that some elements of the policy shift 
could be complicated. Summons forms, for instance, do not identify 
offenders by race, making it potentially difficult for the city to 
track the effects of the change on groups, like young black and 
Latino males, who have often been disproportionately stopped in the past.

It is also unclear how officials might best appraise the success of 
the plan, though relevant statistics are likely to include summons 
and arrest figures and the number of calls placed to 911 or 311 for 
marijuana complaints.

Daniel L. Squadron, a Democratic state senator who represents parts 
of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, has introduced a bill in Albany to 
change the state penal code to decriminalize small amounts of 
marijuana possession - whether the substance is in public view or not.

"The mayor's action is a big deal to undo a glaring injustice," Mr. 
Squadron said. "But it shows we also need to change state law to 
create fairness."

Critics have said the police and prosecutors have been improperly 
charging people with possession of marijuana in public view, often 
after officers ask them to empty their pockets during street stops.

In 2011, Raymond W. Kelly, then the police commissioner, issued an 
order reminding officers to refrain from such arrest practices. Mr. 
Bratton said such practices were not now in use and the problem had 
been fixed. By now, the number of marijuana arrests has decreased, 
roughly mirroring the drastic reduction in the frequency of police 
stop, question and frisk encounters.

Of the 394,539 arrests made last year, marijuana arrests totaled 
slightly more than 28,000, or a little less than 10 percent of all 
arrests made in the city. That is down from 50,000 a few years ago.

Matt Flegenheimer, Kenneth Rosen and Nate Schweber contributed reporting.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom